Protective device for use in connection with potheads and similar structures



PROTECTIVE DEVICE FOR USE IN CONNECTION WITH Po'rHEA s S mm s m M U0 AB1. I T L t l Rm Ag W u HA H F SM P u F March 16 1926.

Patented 1926i UNITED TAT 1,577,433 PATENT OFFICE.

rAULr. WILLIAMS, or CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR r e. a w. nnncrarc srncmrv so, or cnrcaco, ILLINOIS, A CORPORATION or ILLINOIS.

rno'rncrxvn nnvIcE non USE IN CONNECTION WITH ro'rn'mns ANI: SIMILAR. fI srnucrunns,

" Application filed August 10, 1917. Serial-No. 185,454.

v To all. whom it maycoacewai Be itknown thatI, PAUL F. WILLIAMS,

a citizen of the United States, residin at. Chicago, in the county ofCook and tate 5 of Illmois, have invented a certain new and usefulImprovement in Protective Devices for Use in Connection with Potheadsand' l Similar Structures, of which the following is. a full, clearconcise, and'exact description, reference eing had to the accompanyingdrawings, forming a part of this specification. My invention relates topothead structures or similar devices. One of the objects oftheinvention is to provide a device for .use'in connection with a potheador similar structure by which the pothead'may be protected from theweather or elements when it is opened up by a workman so as todisconnect a line or otherwise.

:Another object of the invention is to provide a device by which aworkman'operating upon a pothead to disconnect-the line or otherwise,may be protected against possible in ury from a live conductor. Anot erobject of" the invention is to provide substantially a single devicewhich shallafiord both of the protections before specified.

A further object of the invention is to provide for the convenientarrangement of said protective device in connection with a pothead or'similar device with which it is tobe used. p Qther objects of theinvention will appear hereinafter. I

In the accompanying drawing Fig. 1 is a front elevation of a potheaddevice such for example as shown in' my Patent No. 831,815, September25, 1906, and a protective device for use in connection therewithembodying my present invention, said lat ter device being-shown invertical section;

Fig. 2 is a similar view showing the pothead and protective devicearranged for protective use Figs 3 and 4 are horizontal sections takenon hnes 33 and H, respectively in Fig. 1. p 1

Referrin to the drawings and especially at first to i '1, I'show ahorizontal member 1, which Is understood to be a cross arm of a, olesuch as ordinarily usedin electric lighting systems. Upon this cross arm1 not to be understoo I show a othead 2 mounted by ineans of bolts 33 mgthrough the cross arm 1, 1he pothead 2 is similar to the one shown 1n myaforesaid Patent No. 831,815, although of course In present invention isas being limited for use only 1n connection'with such potheads. Saidpothead 2 has a base 2 and a top or cover 2 In accordance with the wellknown construction of said device. A cable 4 enters the lower end of thebase member 2 and an-overhead conductor 5 enters the upper end of thetop or cover 2",. Said base and top members are provided withco-opcrating metallic contact members 6 and 7 by whlch connection may bemade between the conductor 5 and cable 4 and also by which suchconnection may be broken by removing the top 2? from the base 2, therebyopenmg the llne for various purposes, as well known in the art.

In the use of such a pothead device it will be seen that when the top 2is removed from the base 2, the latter will have its upper end open andexposed to the. weather, so that in case of rain, snow, sleet or thelike, moisture may get to the interior of the pothead and thereby permitdamage from short circuiting or otherwise It will also be seen that thelower end of the metallic contact member 6 projects beyond the bottom ofthe cover 2"and inasmuch aS this cover 2} is free to, swing about in theair when moved from the base 2, said co tact member 6 may inadvertentlystrike ag inst the person of a workmanmanipulating the device and incase the overhead conductor 5 is alive, might do such workman a verysubstantial in ury. In my present invention I provide two devices, onefor protecting the base of the pothead from the weather when the top-isremoved, and the other for preventing a workman from being injured bythe exposed metallic part in the head 2 such as the contact member 6.These two protecting devices or elements, I preferably combine intoasingle device, thereby efi'ecting cheapness, simplicity, compact- 1adjacent to the othead 2. The base member 9 is preferab y in the form ofa-"vertically disposed tubular member open at'the top and provided witha fiat portion 11 at the bottom, through which portion 11 bolts 12 maybe passed to attach the deviceto the cross arm'l. The interior bore orchamber 14 is of ample size to accommodate the projecting end of thecontact member so that the to 2 of the pothead when removed from t epothead 2 may be set upon the upper end of the member 9 and will besupported by the latter, the contact membei' 6 projecting down into thebore 14, as shown in Fig. 2. The top or cap is of such size and shape asto fit over the upper end of the base 2 of the pothead when the cap 2 isremoved, said cap 10 being shown in in such position in Fig. 2. In otherwords when the pothead is. disconnected by the removal of the" cap 2,said cap 2" may be placed upon the top of the base member 9 on theprotective device and the cap '10 of the protective 'devicemay be inturn placed upon the topof the pothead base 2. In this way the otheadtop 2* is supported in a fixed posi ion so that it will not swing aboutin the air in an objectionable manner and its projecting contact member6 will be covered so as to revent said contact member from coming 1ntocontact with the person of a workman or with any other object. At thesame time the cap 10 protects the upper end of the pothead base 2, andthereby sufficiently shie ds and protects the interior of the potheadfrom the weather. Thus both I prefer to use the two parts of the device,7

namely the base 9 and the cover 10 and unite them to form a sin ledevice .as shown herein, although it is o vious that either one of' saidparts could be used by itself and mount-- ed separately or in some otherdifferent manner.

It will be understood that changes and modifications may be made withoutdepart ing from the spirit of the invention.

What I claim is:

The combination with a pothead device consisting of a body and a cap tobe mounted thereon, a dummy device provided with a cap adapted to fitupon the upper end of the pothead body when the pothead cap is removed,and a body on which said pothead cap may be mounted, and means formount-.

ing said pothead and dummy device's near Q one another.

In witness whereof, I hereunto subscribe my name this 26th day of JulyA. D., 1917.

. PAUL F. WILLIAMS.

